Spotlight Cache Week of November 8, 2023: Are Alioth, Knull, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead Worth It?

Welcome back to our weekly series Cache-ing In! Each week, we break down what cards will be available in the new Spotlight Caches, as well as the Spotlight Variants! The goal is to help you determine if you should “Cache In” for the content, or hoard for a better week.

Spotlight Cache Week of November 8, 2023

This week, there is no new card in the Spotlight Caches. Instead, we get three cards that have already been out while as the new card of the week Ms. Marvel is available in the November Season Pass. It is important to note that from the December Season onwards, a new card is featured in this slot.

The featured cards this week are Alioth, Knull, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead!

Spotlight Cache Changes

After the most recent update, the datamines show that a previously datamined Spotlight Cache has been changed:

• On the week of Firestar‘s appearance in December, her supporting card now includes The Living Tribunal instead of Man-Thing.
• During Selene‘s week in December, Lady Deathstrike was replaced with Iron Lad.

These changes may be beneficial or hurtful to you based on your collection needs, but there is a key point to note from this change: Spotlight Caches that are datamined (or any other datamined information such as Bundles) are not official, and have the potential to change. So make sure you pick up a featured card if you know you need it!

Alioth

Variants

Alioth

On Reveal: Remove the text from all unrevealed enemy cards here.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Alioth

This week, Alioth stands in as the enticing card you want to add to your collection! That is if you missed him during his first run during the September season pass. This card was predicted to be good, but I don’t think anybody planned for him to he as good as he turned out to be!

Alioth is essentially a tech card that techs against decks that want to lose priority. Decks like Sera, Bounce, and Mister Negative all tend to enter the final turn without priority so their plays can activate without interface. As per design by developers, Alioth adds tension for these big turn 6 plays by making players have to decide early “do I need to take priority here”.

Since the last 2 balance patches, Mobius M. Mobius was basically deleted from the game due to his severe nerfs. This has lead to a huge uptick in decks like Loki who are using that Energy manipulation while there is no hard counter anymore. If your deck is built correctly, Alioth can still prove viable in this new meta.

Thanos Control

Created by den

, updated 6 months ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

6x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

1x Recruit Season

3.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

One deck Alioth still works well in is in Thanos decks. Using the Infinity Stones, you can help establish priority by playing for each location. You can secure a lane early using Time Stone or Psylocke on turn 3 to play Professor X on turn 4. You then play one of your many turn 5 options like Devil Dinosaur, Blue Marvel, or Vision, and use Alioth to prevent any counter play on the final turn. This deck lately rated as one of our tier 1 meta decks, so despite recent balance changes, it can still keep up!

Sandman Ramp

Created by Emperion

, updated 6 months ago

0

On RevealInfiniteCompetitiveMetaPool 5

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

If you want a different approach to playing Alioth, you can try him in Sandman Ramp! This deck aims to gain constant power through Nebula and Sunspot, and uses Electro and Wave to get out either a big card early or slow your opponent down with Sandman. Alioth comes into play by allowing you to destroy the only card your opponent plays if you predict their play well. You can even Odin the Alioth to trigger the destruction twice!

Overall, Alioth is still an incredible card in this meta. If you missed him on the first round of Spotlight Caches, this is a great week to pick him up! Especially since he has no more planned Spotlight Caches through at least January.

Knull

Variants

Knull

Ongoing: Has the combined Power of all cards destroyed this game.

Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Knull

Sporting yet another, but final premiere for at least the next few months, Knull appears in this week’s cache! Knull has stood the test of time as a relevant card. His ability allows destroy decks to add massive power on the board on turn 6 to single handedly contest a lane.

Sitting at the top of the tier list, Destroy uses Knull to his fullest potential. The idea of the deck is obvious, destroy as many cards as you can to power up your Knull and reduce the cost of your Death. You can use X-23 to both fuel Knull and Death, but her energy ability allows you to play Knull early, or play both Deadpool and Knull on turn 6. If you are a fan of destroy decks and don’t already own Knull, he is a must have for that deck to be competitive.

Deadpool Destroy

Created by den

, updated 6 months ago

0

5x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

2x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.1

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

For an alternate way to play Knull, you can try him with Mister Negative now that Mobius M. Mobius is gone from the meta. The idea is to play Negative to make your Knull a zero cost (even if cards are destroyed). You can use Arnim Zola to double the Knull, which will make both Knulls have double the power as well!

The rest of the deck functions like a normal Mister Negative deck, using Jane Foster Mighty Thor to pull all of your inverted cards to your hand. You also can play Black Panther and Zola to both double Black Panther‘s power again and grow Knull! This deck, however, is heavily draw dependent and can fall apart if you don’t draw Negative in time or draw Black Panther and Zola for your backup play.

Negative

Created by den

, updated 6 months ago

1

1x Collection Level 1-14

6x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1x Recruit Season

1x Starter Card

4.2

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

1.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Knull is an relevant now as ever before in the meta. Even though this card appears often in Spotlight Caches, his strength makes his availability a positive thing.

Negasonic Teenage Warhead

Variants

Negasonic Teenage Warhead

After an enemy card is played here, destroy it. (once per game)

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Negasonic Teenage Warhead

Our final card for this week is Negasonic Teenage Warhead! If you had asked me a week ago if this card was good, I would say absolutely not. After the most recent change, Negasonic now destroys the next card your opponent plays at that location, and not your own card. This change is massive and allows Negasonic to be a solid tech card.

One deck this card techs against best is against Shuri. If your opponent fails to play Armor, you can play Negasonic onto a Shuri lane (if you have priority) and prevent any doubled card from surviving. This means no Taskmaster combo can happen at all. Outside of Shuri decks, you can use this card as a mini Alioth do protect a lane from 1 more card being added to it.

Since Negasonic no longer destroys your own card, Sera and Silver Surfer welcome her as a new tech card for the Surfer package. Negasonic can protect a lane from threats or surprise an enemy by destroying a key card if you have priority. Both Silver Surfer and the Killmonger + Nova combo can grow Negasonic’s power to make up for her low power output.

Surfer Destroy

Created by den

, updated 6 months ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

7x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Since her text change is so recent, players are still discovering her potential. One this is clear though, the new Negasonic Teenage Warhead is definitely a much more playable card compared to her old version.

The Variants

If you already own the cards the Spotlight cache offers, one of these variants will take their place! If you own none of the cards, the variants will appear after you open all four caches. Spotlight variants are time exclusive to their release week, and there’s no estimated time on when they will be available again. So, if any of these Spotlight variants feel like a must have for you, make sure to Cache In if you have enough saved to guarantee the pull.

Leading the pack this week, artist Kai Lun Qu makes their Spotlight premier with this Alioth variant! This artist has 5 more planned variants than have yet to release.

If you are like me and are still missing a good Knull variant, this variant from artist In-Hyuk Lee might be for you! This artist was featured last week with Silk‘s Spotlight variant, as well as the community voted Human Torch variant.

Artist Shawn Crystal makes their Marvel Snap premier this week with a Negasonic Teenage Warhead variant! This artist has an total of 7 more upcoming artist credits under the Inkpulp category.

Should I Cache In?

This week, we don’t have any new cards in the cache. We do, however, get 3 cards that aren’t currently scheduled for more releases. Both Knull and Negasonic Teenage Warhead are in Series 4, but Alioth remains in Series 5. All 3 cards are either competitive or have the potential to be.

Typically on weeks without new cards, it’s an easy week to Hoard Your Caches. This week, however, I recommend you Cache in if you are missing Alioth. This card is extremely powerful and doesn’t appear to be leaving the meta anytime soon. Knull and Negasonic are also great cards to add to your collection if you are missing them. Overall, this week has strong meta value if you are missing the cards.

If you already own Alioth, I recommend you Hoard Your Caches. Since Knull and Negasonic are both Series 4, you can use your tokens to pick these cards up instead.

Wrap Up

Do you think this week is a good or bad week with no new card? Will you be Cache-ing In this week? Let us know in the comments!

For the full schedule, check out our guide below: